I have been given an 'F' reg'd Polo Mk2 by a friend of a friend! It was originally owned by the lad's mother (Lad; ha ha. He's about my age! i.e. ancient) and has been stood on his drive for about 8 years. He wanted it moved as he and his wife are selling their house to downsize. So went and fetched it with the Landrover and trailer. It starts and runs, but requires carburettor overhaul and a new carburettor flange. Brakes are seized, but all in all, doesn't look too bad. It's a Polo C with 84K on the clock. I've ordered the carb bits off ebay but in the meantime, it's now in the garage awaiting a good examination and whatever work it requires. The one thing that it is short of is an air cleaner. If anyone has got one to suit a Weber 32TLA carb, please let me know and we can do a deal. Otherwise it's all there.

Photos:

Lucky you getting a freebie. Looks to be in good condition too.

Nimal

Nice car, same as my daughters. Whats plans do you have for it?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just been having a good look round it. Seems to be reasonably sound underneath. Has had a new sill on the OS. Has upgraded front brakes with ventilated discs. Off a Polo GT perhaps? I don't know what my plans are for it at the moment; it depends on what I find is wrong. If, as I suspect, it is reasonably sound, I shall probably recommission it and use it for a bit to give WOH a bit of a rest. It looks to sound to require a full scale restoration and I am not into concours cars that I'd be terrified to take out.

It certainly needs a good overhaul, but the only rust I have found so far is in the battery box. The front brake calipers are seized and the driveshaft boots are perished, but the engine sounds well and the clutch and gearbox appear to be all right so, all in all there is nothing that can't be dealt with. perhaps I should start a blog and chronicle it's resurrection. Anyway it's now 8.30pm and I am packing in for the night.

In case anyone thinks that I have been idle during the last month, for those that are interested, I have been working quietly on the white Polo. So far, it has had the front brakes stripped and cleaned, The pads were virtually new, so all that was required was to free up the sliders and clean up the carriers. Fitted new driveshaft boots too. Managed to get an air filter box. Its not quite the right one but it will modify. Fitted a new carburettor flange, but haven't got it running yet as I am fitting a new cambelt. It would have been running yesterday, but Euro Carparts (bless them) managed to supply the wrong belt, so I am having to go to Wrexham today to change it. Once that is on and the oil and filter is changed and the new plugs are fitted I can get it back onto the floor and start it and set the carb.

 

Still have to look and the back brakes and replace all the exhaust rubbers. There are also one or two minor electrical issues too. The dash lamps don't work, although the heater lamp does. The rear window wiper doesnt work and there is a problem with the rear number plate lights

 

Watch this space!

It runs! New cambelt fitted today. Carb now set up. Choke works properly and I sorted out the thermostatic fan by cleaning all the contacts in the fusebox. The spin off is that a number of the electrical issues have been sorted out as result. Stripped and cleaned the number plate lamps and fitted new bulbs and they both work now. Stripped the rear brakes and found them in good order. Just needed cleaning and a little copper slip in the right places. The cylinders were free and not leaking!  Considering that it has been standing for 8 years its remarkably good underneath. Even the brake pipes are sound!

 

Still more work to do: The rear windscreen wiper motor is seized, so I shall strip that down to see if I can rescue it and I haven't looked at the dashboard lamps yet.

 

In fact, the car is in a far better state than I envisaged when I picked it up. Might even be ready for MOT next month.

Change your brake fluid ..

Like this a lot - it may have been off the road a couple of years less than you envisaged. Its last MOT was in 2009, which means the car may have been on the road until May 2010 at the latest:

 

MOT history of this vehicle

• Test date 22 May 2009
• Expiry date 22 May 2010
• Test Result Pass
• Odometer reading 84,667 miles
• MOT test number 7440 4284 9129
• Advisory notice item(s)
  Nearside Rear wheel bearing has slight play (2.6.2)

  Nearside Front Brake pipe slightly corroded (3.6.B.2c)

  Offside Front Brake pipe slightly corroded (3.6.B.2c)

  Nearside Front constant velocity joint gaiter deteriorated (2.5.C.1a)

  Offside Front constant velocity joint gaiter deteriorated (2.5.C.1a)

  reverse lamp inoperative

  both rear brake hose top clips missing.

  Suspension joint nearside lower dust cover split/missing

Brake fluid change is on the list to be done. Gearbox and engine oil/filter already changed. Also Antifreeze changed as I fitted a new water pump when I replaced the cambelt. But thanks 1vw2many for the advice.

 

Thank you MartinB. Current mileage is 84,675, so it looks as if it was MOTed and then laid up, possibly because the carb flange had split.

 

I'm going to do a bit more to it today all being well.

Finished sorting the brakes out on Monday but then had to help a pal with his Peugeot as his rear suspension had collapsed. (a common problem, but then it's FRENCH! What can one expect?). He did help me to change the brake fluid and fit the new exhaust mounting rubbers on the white Polo though.

Now it's running I tried it down the track from my house to the road and back today. About a mile there and back and it appears to drive well. So I took the bumpers off it and gave it a good bath. Got all the moss, lichen, dead leaves and other detritis off it and have inspected it  to see where the coachwork needs attention. It has been white stonechipped from the black trim line down so no rot, but the stonechip has peeled in places and needs to be treated and repainted especially around the rear wheelarches and on the front panel by the towing eye. The driver's door is the worst panel, with a dent about the size of a penny just under the mirror and a bit of rust bubbling along the top by the window. I may have to paint the door. The label with the paint code is missing but I suspect that the car is alpine white (paint code L90B) but any suggestions will be gratefully received. Photos attached of what it looks like clean. I should have done 'before and after' photos but didn't think about it until I was half way through. (I shall blame Dr. Alzheimer for that.) The inside of the bonnet appears to be covered in a thin coat of waxoyl so I shall fetch that off with some petrol, but not today.

 

Still pottering with the white Polo. On Thursday I got the rear window wiper to work. The shaft had seized in the bush that pokes out of the back of the car, so not a big fix. Just required a bit of patience. Tidied up the two areas where the stonechip had peeled but no white stonechip which I got on Friday. Gave the rear window surround and the bumpers a good coat of black trim wax. Made a list of the bits that I need to get and ordered some of them from ebay.

 

I work every Tuesday and Friday. I am supposed to be retired but having a job two days a week stops me from vegetating, so no work done to the car yesterday apart from another coat of trim wax on the bumpers and rear window surround.

 

Today I had to go up to Liverpool and then over to Anglesea. Did 200 miles in the red Polo so I have just pottered this evening again.  However, I have managed to get the interior lamp and drivers door courtesy lamp working. With the car in the garage, I cant get the passengers door open far enough to get the courtesy switch out, but I can sort that tomorrow. I have also touched up the rear arch and the front panel with the white stonechip and fitted the rear bumper. The mudflap clips that I ordered a few days ago arrived yesterday, so I shall put the offside rear mudflap back on tomorrow and will sort out the air cleaner and a few other niggly jobs. Might even have a go at the drivers door and see what horrors lie under the bubbling paint!

 

Photos of the rear of the car with the newly blacked bumper and trim and of the front bumper after its second coat of trim wax:

Edited 24 September, 20169 yr by davidpant_teg
Alzheimers

Another saved Polo!

The recommissioning work continues. The major job this week has been to deal with the dent in the drivers door. As predicted, by the time stripped the door casing off and got the worst of the dent out as it was quite deep, I ended up with a large area to fill and smooth out. So I have painted the door from the black trim up.  Sorted the co;our code out. If all else fails, look in the service book. So as I had to take the Land Rover for MOT in Wrexham, I went via my favourite paint suppliers in Oswestry and bought two spray tins of Alpine white L90E. Unfortunately, it was base coat, a fact that the chap in the shop didn't mention. However it was a pretty good match but had no shine. As I was doing this at 10.00pm last night it took some working out what was wrong. So I read all the small print on the tin! Fortunately, I had a couple of tins of clear laquer, so used that. The trouble is that the laquer has given the paint a slightly straw coloured tint but it's not so bad that I can't live with it and, all in all the door is a damned sight better for being repaired.

 

Got a new aerial,  reversing lamp switch and rear tailgate strut yesterday whilst in Wrexham. The strut is now fitted. The air cleaner hot air trunk and dashlamp bulbs arrived in the post yesterday, so they have been fitted this morning. I shall fit the aerial and reversing lamp switch later today and hopefully that will be the end of all the niggly jobs. This week end, if the weather is kind, I shall give it a good wash, cut and polish it and clean up the interior. Might be ready for MOT next week. Fingers crossed!

Been working on the Polo in fits and starts since last Thursday. Got the new aerial on and have cut and polished the paintwork. In the daylight, the door is definitely the wrong colour but I can live with that in the short term. Spent Saturday afternoon cleaning the interior and getting all the black mould off the seats and generally tidying it up. Found that the cigarette lighter element has seized in the socket, so i have ordered a new one which should be here this week. Otherwise it is now ready and is booked in for MOT this coming Wednesday. Photos of how it looks now follow:-

And some more:

WoW that's scrubbed up nice :)  I see what you mean about the drivers door, but that can wait.

Thank you Nige. I have a little work to do on the red Polo, so I shall press the white one into service for a few days. I intend to take it to the paint place and get them to match the paint to the car. Running it will also allow me to do any final snagging.

Took the Polo for MOT today. Alas, it failed on two pennies worth of welding to be done to the off side inner sill just below the fuel filler and the tester wasn't happy that the tyres showed some surface cracking. Wasn't running quite as well as it might on the way back. I suspect that it has developed a vacuum leak on one of the pipes from the carb. But not to worry. All eminently fixable. Got to have the tank down so I shall make sure there is nothing floating around in there just to make sure.

nice project there. 

 

if it's rusty below the fuel filler area, be prepared that it might not just be 2 penny's worth!! there is a steel pipe inside which sets the whole area going with rust. some call it the pipe of doom.

 

btw, love that your mud flaps say 'vag' haha

Thank you Chopperoli for your comments.The mudflaps were on the car when I got it, so I presume that they were fitted at the dealers when the car was supplied. All the ones I have seen previously have 'Polo' on them though....... Fortunately, the fuel filler pipe had no part to play in the tiny bit of rot.  All that had happened was that the inner sill was trying to part company with the outer sill for about three inches. As it happened, I didn't have to take the tank down but I did have to break into the outer sill to get at it effectively. It's all fixed now and is obviously sound as the tyre fitting place have this marvelous piece of kit that jacks the car up on the sills and enables the wheels to be at waist height. The one lifting point was exactly where I had repaired the sill! As you can gather it has had four new tyres fitted today, having finished tidying the outer sill and repainting it with white stonechip. I have also replaced all the vacuum hoses and the car runs a lot better. The only issue that I had is that it still didn't like steep hills.  So I changed the fuel pump and it it does the 1 in 4 hill up the track to my house a treat. I haven't put up any photos of the welding repair. I'm not the neatest welder that ever lived and, as I have mentioned before, it was only a silly little bit anyway. Booked in for retest on Wednesday, so at least one more blog to come.

PASSED!!!!!

All the fiddle with the vacuum pipes and the fuel pump has worked a treat. It ran over to Wrexham and back without missing a beat. So when I got home I decided to fit the new cigarette lighter that arrived in the post yesterday. What a palaver! Do not believe the Haynes manual. It says that you have to remove the lower dash on the near side and reach in. This is only possible if you have prehensile arms and double jointed fingers as the ashtray box is in the way. The simple way, as I found is to remove the speaker grill from the top of the dash. A bit fiddly as it is difficult to see what you are doing as the windscreen gets in the way but much easier that trying to grope up the back of the dash.And a mirror on a stick is a wonderful thing!

The radio cassette player works a treat. Its a Panasonic 493 and looks to have been fitted from new.The speakers are shot though, so I have ordered a pair of 6x4 Alpines. I've got a pair in my Porsche as they are the only ones shallow enough to fit the front doors, so I know they are good quality.

I shall tax it tomorrow and have the red Polo off the road for a bit of TLC. Running it should ginger up any lurking bugs and I shall have the opportunity of getting it on the ramp at work and cleaning and waxoyling the underside.

At least it has been recommissioned and, as Dean said on 24th September, Another saved Polo!

There may be other posts, depending on what breaks or falls off in the next few weeks, but in the meantime thank you all for your comments and support.

 

Finally, as everyone likes pictures, here is one of the two Polos taken after I got back from MOT. "Babes in the Wood"

Lovely stuff!

 

I have a Panasonic 493 in mine, lovely sound quality...

 

Are you replacing the cigarette lighter or actually drilling-out the recessed blank for it?

I have replaced the cigarette lighter. The element had seized into the original one. Although both cars are Polo C's, the red one, being a 1983 model is the real austerity spec: no cigarette lighter, no clock, only one courtesy lamp switch etc. The white one is better equipped (just).

The new speakers are due to arrive next Monday, so I shall see just what the little Panasonic is like next week.

Oh yes! I treated it to some cheap black overmats yesterday too. At least they protect the carpets.

I have now run the white Polo for over 300 miles in the last week and, apart from replacing the radiator, because it was leaking from one corner, it has behaved itself quite well. In fact, well enough to be my daily transport whilst I tidied up the red Polo's coachwork on the rear lower panel and rear wheel arches..

 

About a weeks worth of work or so i thought!

Some while ago, I made a little cover to shield the filler pipe from the worst of the crud, having had to deal with a leaking filler pipe a couple of years ago. So i took it down to get the tank out so as to give better access to the right hand wheelarch. I noticed this little hole behind the filler pipe. I will let the following pictures tell the story: